- Burkina Faso: Junta’s pet “parliament” unanimously votes to reinstate regime prisoner killings
Source: ABC News
“The parliament [sic] in the West African junta-run nation of Burkina Faso has adopted a new penal code reinstating the death penalty for crimes including terrorism, espionage and treason. … The development ends the abolition of the death penalty, which had been in effect since 2018 under the previous and democratically elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore. The last known execution in Burkina Faso took place in 1988, according to Human Rights Watch. The junta’s Council of Ministers approved a bill reinstating capital punishment in December, prompting a backlash from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which criticized the move as repressive and an effort to suppress dissent.” (10/21/26)
- SCOTUS rejects Trump policy restricting treatment for transgender prison inmates
Source: NBC News
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Trump administration cannot enforce a new policy that restricts treatment for transgender inmates in federal prison. The justices in a brief order rejected an emergency application filed by the administration that sought to block a lower court injunction against the proposal. There are about 1,000 transgender inmates in federal custody. … The court order included no explanation, saying only that two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, would have granted it.” (10/21/26)
- Italy: Retailers Warn of Food Shortages Caused by Truck Drivers’ Protest
Source: US News & World Report
“A protest by Italian truck drivers over fuel prices and the cost of living is causing food shortages in shops, with deliveries disrupted and fresh produce rotting, retailers said on Wednesday. The protests, which began in southern Italy last week, have also disrupted operations in two regional airports in Calabria because they cannot get deliveries of aviation fuel. With traffic snarled in various parts of the country, long queues formed on the A1 motorway near the southern city of Naples after truckers restricted access. … The protests come as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government deals with unrest last weekend in northern cities including Milan where gangs of mainly young people went on the rampage. The ANCD-Conad group, representing retailers operating under the Conad supermarket brand, said large quantities of perishable products including fruit and vegetables, as well as milk and meat were stranded on trucks and in warehouses.” (10/21/26)
- Federal aviation officials clear latest Boeing 737 MAX variant to fly
Source: United Press International
“The Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing’s 737-10, a stretched variant of its fourth generation 737 MAX family of narrow-bodied aircraft, clearing the way for the company to begin the first deliveries in the next few months of more than 1,500 orders. Boeing said in a news release Tuesday that its newest and largest 737 MAX had completed a comprehensive certification process that included almost 1,000 test flights and ‘extensive safety assessments and design reviews.’ … Regulatory clearance follows a six-year delay from when the aircraft was scheduled to enter service, including an eleventh-hour call over a navigation system issue that FAA officials eventually determined was not a safety concern.” (10/21/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/10/21/FAA-certifies-Boeing-737-MAX-10/3601792583557/
- Google staff resign in backlash over its AI contracts with military
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Google is facing a backlash from some staff members over the company’s deployment of its AI technology for military use. The BBC has spoken to several tech workers who have either recently resigned from Google’s AI company, Google DeepMind, or are in the process of leaving, over concerns with the tech firm’s military contracts. Sofia Liguori, a London-based research engineer, is one of them. She resigned from Google DeepMind this week and spoke about her concerns exclusively with the BBC, despite her contract restricting her from doing so. ‘Realising my company is pushing more and more for AI systems in military operations makes me feel ashamed to work at Google,’ Liguori said, speaking in a personal capacity.” (10/21/26)
- Russia: Regime frees American Stephen Hubbard after over four years in prison, during a visit by US envoy
Source: Associated Press
“Russia on Wednesday freed an American who had been jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, in a deal completed during a visit by a top U.S. envoy and at a time when President Donald Trump has taken a series of actions meant to benefit Moscow. … Hubbard was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison following a closed trial. Prosecutors said he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and that he fought alongside Kyiv’s forces until being captured two months later. The U.S. government under the Biden administration designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained.” (10/21/26)
- Macron accuses Trump and other foreign leaders of “stupid comments” about France unrest
Source: The Guardian
“Emmanuel Macron has accused Donald Trump and other foreign leaders of making ‘stupid comments’ about France’s street unrest for political gain, as the country prepared for more protests this weekend. Speaking during a visit to Qatar, the French president did not name names but said ‘manipulation of information’ after Saturday’s riots had led to ‘comments that are as unacceptable as they are stupid, from many people, including foreign leaders. Asked if he was referring to Donald Trump, Macron replied: ‘Among others.’” (10/21/26)
- Polymarket removes bets on outcome of Cornell sexual assault case
Source: CBS News
“The online predictions market platform Polymarket has removed a contract that allowed users to bet on whether any of the seven men accused of sexually assaulting or exploiting a Cornell student in 2024 will be charged with a felony sex crime. More than $450,000 had been wagered on this question before it was taken off Polymarket’s platform. It had been available since Sept. 30 and was slated to close on Jan. 31. The company’s U.S. exchange is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which bans trading related to ‘activity that is unlawful under Federal or State law.’ … Online critics characterized the Polymarket contract as degrading and questioned why celebrity ambassadors would associate themselves with the company.” (10/21/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polymarket-cornell-7-sexual-assault-bets/
- Critical vulnerabilities in commonly used web code spark rush to update systems
Source: NBC News
“Crucial vulnerabilities in a programming language that underpins much of the internet are so severe that U.S., European and British authorities have recommended websites temporarily go offline until they can be fixed. The flaws are in PHP, a little-known but crucial programming language which powers how web servers process code. The security team that maintains PHP released patches to fix the problem around 10 a.m. ET. But several websites were temporarily down as of Wednesday morning, citing fear that hackers could take them over. They included Pinboard, a bookmarking site and some parts of Wikipedia. Two massive but largely unmoderated forum sites, 4Chan and Something Awful, both went offline to wait for a patch.” (10/21/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/critical-vulnerabilities-php-update-systems-rcna604751
- Liechtenstein: Prince vetoes abortion bill
Source: Politico
“Liechtenstein’s Hereditary Prince Alois vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would have legalized abortion during the first 12 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy, blocking a citizens’ initiative co-signed by a quarter of voters and passed in the micro-state’s parliament. Performing an abortion is currently illegal in the principality, unless the pregnancy presents a severe risk to the pregnant woman’s health or if it is the result of a sexual assault. Women seeking an abortion usually travel to clinics in neighboring Austria or Switzerland, which campaigners say adds uncertainty and an unnecessary financial hurdle to the process. … The bill ‘is not suitable for adequately protecting unborn life as a central legal interest,’ a statement from the princely house reads. Alois had already indicated in June he would veto the proposal on these grounds.” (10/21/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/liechtenstein-prince-vetoes-abortion-bill/
- DOJ watchdog declines to investigate handling of Reflecting Pool case
Source: SFGate
“The Department of Justice’s inspector general has declined to investigate the handling of the criminal case against a former Olympian cleared of accusations that he intentionally damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to a letter Wednesday from the man’s lawyers. The internal watchdog told David Hearn’s lawyers that the allegations of professional misconduct that they made fall outside its jurisdiction and are instead within the purview of the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, according to the letter, which urges Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume to reconsider the decision. ‘Given the substantial public attention devoted to this matter, and the significant questions raised concerning the conduct of federal officials, declining independent review would risk undermining public confidence in the Department’s ability to police its own conduct. Such a result would be inconsistent with the purposes for which Congress established the OIG and would be a betrayal of its mission,’ the letter says.” (10/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/justice-department-watchdog-declines-to-22486976.php
- Australia: MP loses both legs in vehicle attack as suspect appears in court
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Australian independent lawmaker Helen Haines has had both of her legs amputated after being rammed by a car outside her electoral office, her husband said, as the suspected attacker appeared in court. Doctors amputated the MP’s left leg after an attacker hit her twice with his car in Wangaratta, northeast of Melbourne, on Monday, Phil Haines said. They tried to save her right leg but failed to do so, he told a news conference on Wednesday. … The suspect in the attack, revealed to be a 43-year-old man called Brendan Nugent, made a brief court appearance on Wednesday. … The suspect’s lawyer said he has a rare neurological condition called idiopathic transverse myelitis and is also recovering from a concussion, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.” (10/21/26)
- Russia: Regime says it is ready to resume talks with Ukraine and US to end war
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russia is ‘ready in principle’ to resume talks with the US and Ukraine on ending the conflict, Vladimir Putin’s top aide has said. Yuri Ushakov was speaking after Putin met US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Russian city of St Petersburg. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies have been pressing Moscow for an immediate resumption of the talks suspended in February, and Ushakov said a new round could be held next month. Russia has for months refused talks as it believes it is winning on the battlefield with Ukraine facing an acute shortage of interceptors against deadly Russian missile attacks. Witkoff went to St Petersburg after meeting Zelensky as well as the leaders of Norway and Finland in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on Monday.” (10/21/26)
- Musk chose to restrict Ukraine’s access to SpaceX satellite network, sources say
Source: CBS News
“A decision by Elon Musk led to restrictions on Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s satellite communications network, people familiar with the matter told CBS News. The satellite service, which is used for drone operations, hitting certain targets and protecting sites in Ukraine, was slowed significantly last week. Musk held multiple conversations with administration officials leading up to the order, the sources said. He wanted clarity on the president’s thinking on the matter. Musk has expressed distaste with his company being seen as profiting from the continued war between Russia and Ukraine. It’s not clear how Musk’s order to curtail service was executed.” (10/20/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-ukraine-spacex-starshield-trump-administration/
- The (Hopefully Temporary) Decline and (Hopefully Not) Fall of the Annual Fundraiser
Hey, everyone …
Yesterday was a “zero-dollar day” in our annual fundraiser. We’re stuck, as of 5am, at $1,003 — 36% of the way to our $5,503 goal (once we’ve raised $2,751.50, supporter GL will “match funds” for the second half).
None of this “we’ll have to shut our doors if you don’t smash that donate button” stuff. We’ve been at this for nearly a quarter century as RRND and for more than 30 years as Freedom News Daily and Libernet before that. We plan to keep on going.
On the other hand, we gotta eat, and this is the one time of the year when we lean on you about that. The big prize for getting across the finish line is that I’ll stop badgering you about money completely for the rest of 2026, and mostly for the first nine months of 2027.
So:
PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER!
And have a great day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily - Trump envoy Witkoff to meet Putin in St. Petersburg for Ukraine war talks
Source: The Hill
“U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg on Wednesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes Kyiv to make a deal that stops the fighting. The visit came a day after Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some European leaders in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. … Russia and Ukraine are still far apart in their terms for a settlement, as their armies remain locked on the battlefield and they pummel each other with daily long-range strikes.” (10/21/26)
- Bitcoin rebounds to $83k as Strong Earnings Lift US Stocks
Sourc: CoinCentral
“Bitcoin (BTC) returned to $83,000 after the Wall Street open on Tuesday. US stocks gained on strong earnings reports. BTC rose as much as 1.5%, its highest level since October 14. It then dropped back toward $82,000. General Motors and 3M both beat Q3 earnings expectations. 3M also raised its profit forecast. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2%, reaching levels last seen on September 14. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.6% and 0.5%. Oil prices moved sharply during the session. US WTI crude passed $100 a barrel for the first time since September 17, then fell below $96.” (10/21/26)
https://coincentral.com/bitcoin-btc-price-rebounds-to-83k-as-strong-earnings-lift-us-stocks/
- AL: Ivey spares death row inmate, citing doubts about evidence
Source: NBC News
“Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a death row inmate after a number of former public officials, and the current district attorney, raised doubts about his conviction. The Republican governor said she was commuting Toforest Johnson’s death sentence to life in prison without parole. Johnson was convicted of the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy. Johnson has long maintained he is innocent. … Hardy was shot twice in the head while working off-duty security at a hotel. Johnson has maintained he was on the other side of town at the time of the shooting. … The key prosecution witness at Johnson’s 1998 trial testified that, while eavesdropping on a phone call, she heard a man she believed was Johnson admitting to the crime. She was paid $5,000 in 2001 for her testimony, and Johnson’s lawyers argue that the state withheld evidence of monetary motivation for the testimony.” (10/20/26)
- UK: Regime to deploy fighter jets to support Saudi regime against Houthi attacks
Source: CNN
“The United Kingdom said Tuesday it will deploy fighter jets to defend Saudi Arabia against attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi rebels [sic] in Yemen. The UK will fly ‘defensive counter-air missions’ using Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to protect Saudi cities and critical infrastructure, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Over the past month, the Houthis have intensified their attacks on Saudi Arabia, launching ballistic missiles and drones at key infrastructure, including oil facilities and airports. The UK is already providing air-to-air refueling support to Saudi Arabia and has deployed air defense equipment and British personnel to help protect the kingdom, a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office told reporters.” [editor’s note: No mention of the fact that the Saudi terror regime is waging a war of aggression against Yemen – TLK] (10/20/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/middleeast/uk-military-saudi-arabia-yemen-houthis-intl
- FL: Regime attorneys threaten TV stations with criminal charges for running true ad
Source: Tampa Bay Times
“State attorneys are warning Florida television stations that broadcasters could be committing crimes by airing campaign ads about a grand jury’s investigation into Hope Florida. Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Suzy Lopez sent letters to several television stations around Tampa Bay on Friday, hours before a Republican Party of Florida lawsuit about the ads was filed in court. … State Attorney Brian Haas of the 10th Judicial Circuit in Hardee, Highlands and Polk counties sent an identical letter to TV stations in his area on the same day, a record shows. … A judge on Tuesday called for a hearing but declined to immediately stop the ads as the Republican Party of Florida requested.” (10/20/26)
- Ramaswamy, Trump show GOP are firmly in the gutter, on purpose
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke“Voters are concerned about high food and gas prices, and [Vivek] Ramaswamy is out here trying to use his opponent’s childhood trauma as some kind of cudgel. Perhaps the Ohio Republican was inspired by his party’s leader, President Donald Trump, who now spends his days at campaign rallies talking about what a nice rump he thinks Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio has. … Vile rhetoric and behavior won’t gain any of the GOP candidates a single vote. But I do applaud them for being their true selves.” (10/21/26)
- The Accidental Activists of Data Center Alley
Source: The Nation
by Alissa Quart“I was hiking on a nature park that cuts through 45 miles of Northern Virginia, crisscrossing grassy terrain, wetlands, wooden bridges, and goldenrod, and then a dozen promontories offering the most unnatural of sights: indowless, hulking block-long data centers and their attendant transmission lines and substations. I heard ‘the hum’ of the centers before I saw them; their sound resembled a horde of cicadas on meth. I felt nervous, and somewhat overwhelmed, as I counted roughly 20 of them in just the two miles I walked on the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail in Loudoun County. Here is the country’s thickest concentration of data centers—233 centers in all, over 3 percent of the county’s overall land mass. Data Center Alley, as it’s called, is a harbinger of what is to come in this country if tech hyperscaling continues unchecked.” (10/21/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/accidental-activists-data-center-alley/
- The American Revolution and Women’s Rights
Source: Liberalism.org
by Jayme Lemke“The new republic didn’t enfranchise women, but it built the tools that later generations would use.” (10/21/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/the-american-revolution-and-women-s-rights
- California’s Looming Election Day Nightmare
Source: American Greatness
by Edward Ring“By the time this is published, we will be within two weeks of Election Day. To be more descriptive, in California we might say that on November 3 we will reach the end of the first half. During election season’s second half, also lasting 30 days, trained professionals will busily count ballots, cure ballots, and process ballots postmarked before but received after the end of the first half. There are good reasons to suppose the results aren’t going to be desirable for any Californian who wants lower taxes and more efficient government spending. The nightmare scenario is that those voters most likely to reject more state and local ballot initiatives that will enact higher taxes and more wasteful spending will be less likely to vote.” (10/21/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/21/californias-looming-election-day-nightmare/
- A viable path to peace in Ukraine
Source: Asia Times
by Jeffrey D Sachs“The war in Ukraine can be ended permanently on terms that protect Ukraine’s statehood, meet Russia’s security concerns, and lay the foundation for a durable European security order. As another round of negotiations gears up in Norway, I propose a settlement concluded as a single package, signed by Ukraine and Russia, adopted by a vote of the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter. It would be guaranteed jointly by the five permanent members of the Council together with other states that choose to join. The proposal rests on the principle of indivisible security set out in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris. The package would have four core commitments.” (10/21/26)
https://asiatimes.com/2026/10/a-viable-path-to-peace-in-ukraine/
- What Do You Tell a Child When a Teacher Disparages Her Religion?
Source: Common Dreams
by Maryam Hasan“What do you tell a child attending public school when her teacher singles out and disparages her religion? That is the question parents of Muslim children in Texas schools might soon confront. The Texas State Board of Education has approved new social studies standards taking effect in 2030 that require teachers to denigrate the religion of Islam with biased, ahistorical, and offensive characterizations. One of the most controversial edits would require students to study ‘the Prophet Mohammed’s brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves’. None of these claims stand up to a neutral reading of history.” (10/21/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/texas-anti-islam-teaching
- A Lawsuit to Restore a Bit of Contractual Freedom
Source: Future of Freedom
by George Leef“Governments at all levels have enacted laws that violate the right to contract. In every state, for example, licensing laws obstruct contractual freedom by preventing individuals who do not have a license from contracting with people who nevertheless want their services. Consider a law in North Dakota stating that only those who have obtained a license to teach from the state may enter into contracts to teach — not only in public schools, but also in private ones. Why shouldn’t the head of a private school be free to employ anyone he regards as capable of teaching? He, after all, has the strongest possible incentive to make sure that parents who pay for schooling will receive the best instruction. That is precisely the issue in a lawsuit brought by Capstone Classical Academy, a private school, along with a parent and a teacher, challenging North Dakota’s licensing law.” (10/21/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/a-lawsuit-to-restore-a-bit-of-contractual-freedom/
- Why Truth Is Not Enough
Source: Law & Liberty
by Jennifer A Frey“If we return to the cradle of Western civilization in ancient Greece and Rome, we find an idea of liberal education as one that befits a free person and citizen, in contrast to a servile education that fitted one for a life of a specific line of work or trade. The proper curriculum for such an education was always a matter of lively debate, but it was widely agreed that such study should cultivate our minds, our speech, and our character in ways that expanded our freedom, making us more fit for various forms of self-governance and human flourishing. This ideal of the liberal arts seeks the truth for its own sake, to be sure, but understands this as expanding our freedom to flourish in both public and private life, not as a laissez-faire quest for more truth simpliciter.” (10/21/26)
- Naming versus explaining
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie“In many traditional cultures, ancient civilizations, and folklore traditions, a name is not viewed as a mere label, it is considered an intrinsic part of a person’s soul, essence, or spiritual makeup. Because the name represents the core of the being, possessing it was believed to allow a sorcerer, spirit, or enemy to manipulate, curse, or summon that person. To protect themselves, many cultures practiced name avoidance. People often used nicknames, public titles, or ‘noa’ (ordinary/allowed) names in daily life while keeping their true or spiritual name hidden from strangers or enemies. … The DSM, psychiatry’s diagnostic manual, defines most conditions by clusters of symptoms, not by any identified mechanism. In 2013 Thomas Insel, then director of America’s National Institute of Mental Health, said as much. He wrote that the manual’s categories lacked validity, and his institute began moving its research away from them. The labels are not even reliable.” (10/21/26)
- The Deep Roots of France’s Omnicrisis
Source: Persuasion
by Matthew Karnitschnig“Reaction to the riots in France has followed a familiar arc: shock and disbelief, followed by dismissal and even denial. The wave of demonstrations began last month at a school in a Paris suburb, where teachers and students went on strike over staff shortages. What began as a local protest quickly morphed into a nationwide movement fueled by seemingly everything that ails France, turning particularly violent last weekend as rioters stormed city halls from Marseille to Limoges and Lille. In the aftermath, social media was awash with testimonials from Parisians insisting that the unrest was much ado about nothing. … The reaction to the storming of the Bastille in 1789 was no doubt much the same, at least until the revolutionaries started chopping off heads.” (10/21/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-deep-roots-of-frances-omnicrisis
- Why the safest political path on daylight saving time is to do nothing
Source: The Hill
by Sheldon H Jacobsen“Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Nov. 1. This summer, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025, which would make it permanent year-round. The 308-117 vote drew support from across the aisle. This is the first bill to pass in Congress since the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 with unanimous consent. Yet if Congress falls back into legislative inertia after the midterms, the 2025 bill may never become law, giving false hope for some and wasting the American people’s time once again. Given the similarities between the two bills, the 2025 version should in theory have no problem passing in the Senate. But the 2021 Senate bill was passed during a sparsely attended session, with some members expressing concern after the fact.” (10/21/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/6161240-why-congress-stalls-clock-change-bills/
- Cornell Faculty Completes Self-Study, Decides to Take No Action on Their Own Ideological Bias
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“Cornell University has long been an example of an academic echo chamber where conservative and libertarian faculty have been largely purged from departmental ranks. For example, a study by The College Fix found that Democrats outnumber Republicans 98 to 1 among Cornell professors across six of the humanities departments. Cornell professors disrupt events, launch campaigns to fire the remaining conservative faculty, and foster a cancel campaign culture on campus. However, the faculty recently decided to review its own record and found … wait for it! … that there really are no concrete measures needed to address their own overwhelming ideological bias. According to a 238-page faculty report from the Committee on the Future of the American University, there was no consensus on ideological bias or how to handle it.” (10/21/26)
- Best Practices for a Last Best Hope
Source: Law & Liberty
by Michael B Poliakoff“The number of civic institutes, centers, and schools at public universities has increased significantly since the first one, the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership (SCETL) at Arizona State University, emerged in 2017. Beginning in 2021, nineteen new centers and institutes have been established. Although many institutions have launched initiatives to enhance civic education, here I focus on the phenomenon of centers independent of any existing academic department but which are established by legislative or trustee action.” (10/21/26)
- Evidence of a Russian “hybrid war” in Europe is vanishingly thin
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Thomas Fazi“These days, barely a week goes by in Europe without a drone sighting, a fire or a power outage being blamed on Russia. We’re told that these incidents are all part of a relentless, and escalating, ‘hybrid war’ that Moscow is waging against the continent. Tensions escalated dramatically last month after Germany formally attributed to Moscow a ‘failed’ drone attack on Leipzig/Halle airport. But does the evidence support Western claims that Russia is engaged in a systematic hybrid war against Europe?” (10/21/26)
- Three Big Lessons from the Oregon School Shooting
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Lesson One: Gun-control laws do not stop people who are determined to commit murder. … Lesson Two: Concealed-carry laws protect people. … Lesson Three: This lesson will be the controversial one, especially for people who worship, admire, and adore the U.S. national-security establishment and its policy of foreign interventionism.” (10/21/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/10/21/three-big-lessons-from-the-oregon-school-shooting/
- Misunderstanding the free part of free markets
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“One meaning of the free part of free markets is that the market is free to enter. Anyone, with whatever idea, is free to set up shop and try it out. This is what is being misunderstood here: ‘In a move nobody outside of boardrooms asked for, Target has become the first fashion retailer in Australia to make its products available to order via the Uber Eats app as of September. …’ Technology changes over time. There is always some new set of possibilities among the things that can be done therefore. We don’t know whether people would like those new things done. The only way we’ve got of finding out is to do the new thing then see. No, just asking people doesn’t work, there’s always a difference between expressed and revealed preferences. This is, in the jargon, the function of the entrepreneur.” (10/21/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/misunderstanding-the-free-part-of-free-markets
- How the Federal Budget Gets Made
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by David Hebert“This explainer will lay out the federal budget relay race process that takes a proposed spending plan from a wishlist to an actual check while operating under rules designed to keep total spending in line.” (10/21/26)
- Trump Is Right to Lift Diesel Sanctions on Russia. He Should Go Further
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe“As some have pointed out, the size of the diesel export agreed to in this supposed deal, and the scale of the sanctions that are being waived, are really quite small. This move is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the pain Americans are feeling because of the artificially high diesel prices or change Russia’s posture in the war. But the waiver is interesting for a different reason. Because it is, in many ways, an admission that those of us who oppose Washington’s reflexive use of economic sanctions are right. It is remarkably well-documented that sanctions are atrociously bad at doing what we’re told they’re supposed to do—weaken and delegitimize a regime in the eyes of their domestic population to the point where they’re either overthrown or forced to change course by their revolting citizens.” (10/21/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-right-lift-diesel-sanctions-russia-he-should-go-further
- In the home of the Arab Spring, democracy’s looking better
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“In Oct. 17, the North African nation of Tunisia saw one of its largest protests in years. In the capital, Tunis, thousands of demonstrators chanted slogans like ‘The people above all else’ and ‘Work, freedom, national dignity’ – despite fears of being arrested. In recent years worldwide, such anti-government protests have surged. So why should this one stand out? Because Tunisia was the spark for the Arab Spring of 2011. … Tunisia was also the most successful Arab country to plant a democracy after 2011. That is, until 2021-2022, when a duly elected president, Kais Saied, took advantage of public frustrations over economic opportunities and canceled much of democracy, including an independent judiciary. Many democratic activists now sit in prison.” (10/20/26)
- Douglass and the betrayal of freedom
Source: Expression
by Jacob Mchangama“The Emancipation Proclamation, the defeat of the Confederacy and the adoption of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments prohibiting slavery and promising equal protection and the right to vote for the recently emancipated Black population seemed to fulfill Douglass’ life’s mission as an abolitionist and human rights defender. Yet over the following decades, Douglass’[s] joy at emancipation was mixed with bitter disappointment at the stark contrast between the fine principles enshrined in these documents and their practical nullification through oppressive laws, racist terror and mob action in the South.” (10/21/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/douglass-and-the-betrayal-of-freedom
- Mr. President, Don’t Strike Yemen
Source: Antiwar.com
by Nolan Denaro“In his moment of peril, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seeking assistance. Pakistan has pledged to militarily support the Saudis, citing the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. France has also committed assets to Saudi Arabia, with President Emmanuel Macron saying that ‘Soldiers, radars, defense systems’ will be used to defend Saudi energy infrastructure. Egypt’s National Defense Council – led by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi – has announced that they plan to use ‘all possible forms of support’ to help the Saudis. … MBS has also been relentless in his push for direct U.S. military involvement. In September, he called President Donald Trump multiple times to request that he assist the Saudis, specifically that he order the U.S. military to engage in direct strikes against Houthi forces. … Despite the bluster coming from those advocating for intervention, a move to engage in strikes on Yemen would be a dreadful mistake.” (10/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/nolan_denaro/2026/10/20/mr-president-dont-strike-yemen
- Why does Trump keep making Putin’s war easier?
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg“There is an enormous difference between the United States declining to provide additional military assistance to a country fighting for its survival and deliberately interfering with its ability to defend itself. The disruption fits a broader pattern of Trump administration decisions that have constrained Ukraine while offering concessions to Russia.” (10/21/26)
- A Western Civ Speech Only A Neocon Could Love
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette“The liberal tradition that is central to Western civilization sees the individual as the bearer of rights, the locus in which conscience manifests itself. It is in the individual that freedom is experienced. Yet these jewels in the crown of Western civilization were crowded out by the speech’s undisguised imperial core: national power, relentless ambition, adventure, risk and glory, skyrocketing defense spending, historic defense commitments. Nor did the sweep of [Marco Rubio’s] survey acknowledge that the failure of the West’s will to survive is an inevitable and sorrowful compensation for the vitality drained by its imperial overextension.” (10/21/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-western-civ-speech-only-a-neocon-could-love/
- Trump’s Budget Fantasy
Source: The Atlantic
by David Frum“‘BALANCED BUDGET!!! DJT’ Donald Trump posted that promise on February 7, 2025, the 18th day of his current presidential term. During the 2024 campaign, he had promised even more: the elimination of the entire national debt in a single term of office. Trump insisted that he could reach his budget goals without disagreeable spending cuts. … Instead, he proposed eliminating deficits and debt with magic money from growth, from crypto, and—above all—from tariffs. Tariffs would generate so much revenue that they might replace the income tax, maybe even finance a $2,000 dividend for every American taxpayer.
Basic budget math contradicted Trump’s fantasies.” (10/21/26) - Accountability Is All That Matters Now
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Steven Kritz“In recent months, there’s been a torrent of document releases that prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the scope of the atrocities committed in the name of the Covid response by the public health establishment. As someone who has been submitting articles to Brownstone Journal covering this subject for more than 3 years (20 have been published), it has been suggested that I once again bring my perspective into the arena regarding these recent revelations. Frankly, I have felt no such calling. Why is that? For me, it’s a matter of been there; done that! … I’ve reached the point where the only thing I care about is accountability. Without it, these atrocities will keep happening.” (10/21/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/accountability-is-all-that-matters-now/
- “Cornell 7” legal circus reveals #MeToo’s unjust double standards
Source: New York Post
by Betsy McCaughey“The civil case against seven Cornell fraternity men was a media spectacle from Day 1, thanks to the shrewd actions of the accuser’s attorneys — and the circus is only getting crazier. That means a near-zero chance of fairness for the accused when the case goes to trial, unless the court shuts down the theatrics pronto. The lawsuit springing from the actions of eight college kids boasts an all-star cast of legal titans: Thomas Giuffra, who’s lawyering for the female accuser, has raked in millions representing women who accused Harvey Weinstein and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexual assault. Mark Geragos, who has represented Combs, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Hunter Biden, is appearing on TMZ, acting as what Giuffra calls a ‘shadow member’ of Doe’s team. These big-shot lawyers are on the case because deep-pocketed Cornell University is also one of the defendants.” (10/20/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/10/20/opinion/cornell-7-legal-circus-reveals-metoos-unjust-double-standards/
- Grizzly recovery is working. A new rule would help keep it that way.
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by staff“A newly proposed federal rule changes how grizzly bears are managed under the Endangered Species Act and creates a smarter path for long-term recovery. The proposed tiered 4(d) rule rewards conservation success with greater state management flexibility, while keeping federal protections in place if populations decline. It’s a practical, science-driven approach that recognizes what recovery looks like on the ground.” (10/20/26)
- Against Against Handover
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander“The latest bugbear is ‘AI successionism’, the belief that AIs should succeed humans as rulers of Earth. But some critiques fail to distinguish between two different ideas. True successionism says that AIs should take over, killing humans or steamrolling over their interests. This is very bad: a compact description of the thing that AI safety is against. Handoverism says that humans should prioritize their own interests, but that those interests may be well-served by having aligned AIs in positions of control. Some people in AI safety, including me, find this latter position plausible.” (10/20/26)
- Disordered Institutions Make Disordered Publics
Source: Liberal Currents
by Samantha Hancox-Li‘People who believe their choices don’t matter choose poorly.” (10/21/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/disordered-institutions-make-disordered-publics/
- Trump’s $8 Billion Diesel Bailout Pays Farmers for a Problem He Created
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola“On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would ‘make $8 billion available for one-time payments to American farmers this harvest season to provide relief during temporary market disruptions and increased input costs.’ … The $8 billion program is part of a windfall of taxpayer money the Trump administration has sent to farmers as relief for harms caused by the president’s actions. Last December, the USDA sent $11 billion in one-time bridge payments to more than half a million farmers nationwide. Earlier this month, the USDA announced it would provide a record $13.8 billion in gross payments to agricultural producers to cover revenue losses.” (10/20/26)
https://reason.com/2026/10/20/trumps-8-billion-diesel-bailout-pays-farmers-for-a-problem-he-created/
- Statistics with World of Warcraft
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“My previous post proposed an economics course built around World of Warcraft. I have much less experience teaching statistics than teaching economics and I suspect the game is less suited for the former than the latter purpose but it does provide quite a lot of opportunities for observing data and trying to infer patterns from it so could be used to both explain and apply statistical inference. And I suspect that, as in the case of economics, application to a world with which the student was familiar and to problems of actual interest to him would have a significant positive effect on attention and understanding.” (10/20/26)
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/statistics-with-world-of-warcraft
- Saving Lives at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon
Source: Indepenent Institute
by Stephen P Halbrook“On October 15, I published a post arguing that true ‘sensitive places’ where guns are banned must have armed protection. The same day, a murderer broke into a ‘gun-free-zone’ school in Oregan and began shooting children and teachers. A dad of two girls at the school just happened to be driving by and grabbed his pistol, rushed into the school, and ‘neutralized’ the killer with several shots. He was a concealed pistol licensee. … the brave community member who entered the school and ended the carnage would have violated the law, but for a ‘choice-of-evils’ justification defense.” (10/20/26)
- Major Roger Marshall Donor Is a Hospital Bandit
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen & Maureen Tkacik“Four months ago, a Kansas-based private equity mogul named Dan Tasset posted on LinkedIn about his admiration for a trusted representative in Congress. ‘I’ve known Senator Roger Marshall for many years and have long appreciated his willingness to engage thoughtfully on healthcare policy issues impacting physicians, patients, and independent care delivery’, Tasset wrote. He mentioned that Sen. Marshall recently met with an administrator from an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) who aimed to improve the Medicare reimbursement system. Tasset’s private equity firm, Nueterra, owns that surgical center, and he and his employee were promoting a bill that would make ASCs more attractive to patients.” (10/21/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/10/21/a-major-roger-marshall-donor-is-a-hospital-bandit/
- Trump’s $5,000 Offer Reveals How Washington Works
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter Jacobsen“Politicians routinely promise benefits to current voters at future taxpayers’ expense. The president’s offer simply strips away the pretense.” (10/20/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/trumps-5000-offer-reveals-how-washington-works/
- Missouri’s Rules for Plug-In Solar Are out of Proportion to the Risk
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Patrick Tuohey“You can plug a 1,500-watt space heater into your living room wall without asking anyone. Plug in a 1,200-watt solar panel, however, and Missouri treats you like a small power plant. The two aren’t identical, since the panel can push power back into the wiring. But that difference calls for a safety standard, not a permit process built for commercial grade rooftop arrays. Under Missouri’s net-metering law, a panel that feeds power into a home’s wiring is a ‘customer-generator.’ Its owner must file an interconnection application with a wiring diagram, wait for the utility’s approval, and have a qualified electrician or engineer certify the installation. Bright Saver, a nonprofit that sells plug-in solar kits, won’t ship them to Missouri until the law changes. Two bills filed in the 2026 legislative session would have fixed that.” (10/20/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 10/21/26
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle is joined by David Weigel, a national politics reporter at Semafor, to discuss the DSA’s rise and the question it raises for Democrats: Is democratic socialism the future of their party?” (10/21/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/how-the-dsa-is-reshaping-the-democratic-party/
- The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 10/21/26
Source: The New Republic
“Abdul El-Sayed’s Viral Takedown of GOP Heckler Shows How to Fight MAGA.” (10/21/26)
- LPA Two Hour Lunch Hour, episode 16
Source: LP Alliance
“Join us for our anything goes podcast every Wednesday at noon eastern!” (10/21/26)
- Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 10/21/26
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“Epstein, Psyops, & the Launch of the CommuNoid Zine w/ ParaPower Mapping.” (10/21/26)
- So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, episode 285
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Why you should talk to strangers w/ Fin Colleton and Kratima Divakar.” (10/21/26)
- Washington Monthly Podcast, 10/21/26
Source: Washington Monthly
“How Trump and MAGA Captured the GOP.” (10/21/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/10/21/how-trump-and-maga-captured-the-gop/
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 10/21/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Economics 101, Live From Tulsa! | Interview: Douglas Holtz-Eakin.” (10/21/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/economics-101-live-from-tulsa-interview-douglas-holtz-eakin/
- LPALive, episode 83
Source: LP Alliance
“Martin SIC and Assistant Treasurer Selection!” (10/20/26)
- The Corbett Report, episode 509
Source: The Corbett Report
“Think Tanks, Stink Tanks!” (10/21/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 10/20/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Netanyahu Discussed ‘Eliminating’ Iran’s Government With Trump, US Airstrike in Somalia, and More.” (10/20/26)
- Politics Politics Politics, 10/20/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“WILD Midterm Ads! Libertarian Votes and the Mistresses of JFK (with Andrew Heaton and Laurence Leamer).” (10/20/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/wild-midterm-ads-libertarian-votes
- The Good Fight, 10/20/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“James Marriott on the End of Reading.” (10/20/26)
- Robert Wright on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews Robert Wright, author of the book The God Test, about how AI will impact our future. They discuss the threats AI poses to our safety and our economies. And they talk about the right and wrong ways to minimize those risks without sacrificing the genuine benefits offered by the technology.” (10/20/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/10-16-26-robert-wright-on-the-threats-posed-by-ai/
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 10/20/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s Watch the LNC Meeting 10/20/26 (Martin SIC Report).” (10/20/26)
- The Watch With Radley Balko, 10/20/26
Source: The Watch With Radley Balko
“Her fiancé and caretaker was murdered by a far-right extremist. Then Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned the killer. My interview with Whitney Mitchell.” (10/20/26)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/her-fiance-and-caretaker-was-murdered
- New Yorkers Don’t Compost. Will They Be Fined Into Compliance?
Source: Reason
“The city mandates composting, but New Yorkers don’t like to be told what to do with their garbage—and don’t seem all that clear on the rules in the first place.” (10/20/26)
https://reason.com/video/2026/10/20/new-yorkers-dont-compost-will-they-be-fined-into-compliance/
- Advisory Opinions, 10/20/26
Source: The Dispatch
“A Constitutional Crisis Over a Golf Course.” (10/20/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/a-constitutional-crisis-over-a-golf-course/
- Show-Me Institute Podcast, 10/20/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Socialism, Chavez, and the Collapse of Venezuela with Jim Epstein.” (10/20/26)
- Rising, 10/20/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on a proposed deal to lower the tensions between Ukraine and Russia.” (10/20/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 10/20/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Hits Brutal New Polling Low—and GOP Leaks Grow Truly Humiliating.” (10/20/26)